Ink Scratching
by La Maddalena
Summary: I've got no one to send a letter to. Would you mind if I sent one back here to you? / Zack/Aerith correspondence, pregame.
1. First Letter: First Snow

**A/N: **Plot bunnies have been stewing in my head for some time now, so I thought I'd give my FFVII OTP a whirl. And I've always had a soft spot in my heart for writing letters, even though nobody really does it anymore.

He writes, she writes back, things happen. You know how it goes.

* * *

**Ink-Scratching  
****First Letter: First Snow**

Aerith,

I'm not much good at writing letters, but I did promise I would. And you did say I could, so. Here goes.

How are things? Right now we're camping out in the mountains of, uh, somewhere. I kind of forget the particulars right now—it's been mostly just scouting terrain and training the grunts—and it's snowing. It snows like you wouldn't believe up here.

You ever seen snow, Aer? I don't like it very much. I mean, it looks nice and all, especially when the sun's going down and the light bends all sparkly on the rocks… and it's also good to ball up and throw at some of the other guys when we get time to goof around. But the cold just makes you feel horrible and the frost gets everywhere and it kind of sucks when you yawn and find you've cried icicle tears.

And, well. I've just wasted half a page complaining 'bout the weather. The heck? That just makes me sound like some sort of pansy. Which you know I'm not.

Right?

Ah, whatever. Told you I wasn't any good at writing letters. I've pretty much wasted this one; they ration everything up here, even notepaper. I still have to steal some extra pages from Seph so I can write my folks. Poor guy doesn't write home to anybody. He's probably too cool for that sort of thing. (You've definitely heard of Sephiroth. There's no one alive who hasn't heard of Sephiroth, unless they live out in the sticks. He's a first class. Like me, hehehe. And underneath all that hero-worship he's a total stiff who doesn't like me calling him Seph, but that doesn't matter.)

On top of all that, the mail truck only comes once every couple of weeks! Man.

Take care, anyhow, whatever you're doing. I wish you were here.

Or, maybe, given the circumstances, I guess it'd be better to say, "I wish I was there?" Yeah?

Never mind.

- Zack Fair


	2. First Letter: The Hole in the Roof

**Ink-Scratching  
First Letter: The Hole in the Roof**

Zacky,

You don't mind if I call you that, do you?

You do?

Oh well, too late. I don't like wasting paper. Besides, I'm getting really good giggle-fits out of imagining your face. Mom's giving me funny looks right now, from across the room. She can't see what I'm laughing at, but I don't think she's worried.

I can't help it, you know? You sound like you're having a pretty good time, in spite of the weather and whatnot. And I've never seen snow, but I'd like to. I'm sure it's not as bad as you make it seem, you big baby. Play nice with Sephiroth, now!

…I'm kidding. I know you're not a pansy.

Me, I'm all right. I've been trying to get somebody to help me fix the hole in the church roof… The one you fell through, remember? I haven't had much luck so far, because people ask for strange things in return for doing the repairs. But I figure that I could probably try to fix it myself, if I get bored enough. I've been up there before, after all. Shouldn't be _too _hard.

_Or _I could always just wait for you to come back and give me a hand, right? To tell you the truth, I don't actually mind the hole very much. I'm looking up at it right now, in fact, and there's this nice little patch of sky… So there's no hurry, I guess, unless someone falls through it again. Heeheehee.

The flowers still grow, too, in spite of everything. They're all doing well. I think they miss your corny jokes, though. It's been kind of quiet.

- Aerith


	3. Second Letter: My Girl Back Home

**Ink-Scratching  
****Second Letter: My Girl Back Home**

Aerith,

No, no, no! You will not go up there by yourself (or with anyone else, for that matter)! Do you understand? You will wait for me to come back to Midgar and then I will fix that hole in the church roof and whatever else needs fixing. You just say the word, and I will fix. Okay? Good girl.

Gods, woman. You're going to give me a heart attack before I get to see any real action. So to speak.

And… oh, shit. Your mother doesn't go through your mail, does she? Not that I'd mind if she did or anything (Hi, Mrs. Aerith's mom!) but… you know what I mean, don't you?

Never mind. I just won't think about it. Thanks a lot for your letter, though. The delivery came in late, but it really made my day.

Sad thing is, it made everyone else's day, too. I would never have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes, but these guys gossip worse than pregnant women, and make loud-ass catcalls too. Seriously. Someone gets a letter from his girl back home and then there's this big to-do like there'd be if it was a huge promotion.

It's kind of funny, actually. 'Cause Midgar's not any kind of home to me at all, except maybe because you're in it.

Whoa, what am I talking about? Sorry. I actually had a lot more I wanted to tell you that made a lot more sense than this, but it's really late. Can't sleep, so I'm writing by flashlight. This new guy I bunk with, see—he's only just a kid come all the way from Nibelheim and probably still writes letters to his mother, but he snores like there's no tomorrow. I've tried drifting off several times already. All attempts have been met with miserable failure.

I'll try again right now. G'night, Aerith. Lock your door before you go to bed, 'kay?

- Zack Fair


	4. Second Letter: Tell Me Everything

**Ink-Scratching  
****Second Letter: Tell Me Everything**

Zack Fair!

I can't believe you! You let your buddies read my letters? And since when was I 'your girl from back home,' soldier boy? Must be getting pretty lonely up there, huh?

Oh, it's okay. I don't mind, actually. (Don't you dare write back with 'What don't you mind?' because you should know by now!) I know how you are. You don't get very lonely at all, wherever you end up. I bet you're already everybody's friend, even if it's only been a month.

Are you still having a good time? You'd better be. You get to see all these places I've only ever heard about. You know, live the dream you left home and came out into the world for, and things… and you're not toughing it out all by yourself, which probably makes it a lot nicer. You don't miss the things you left behind too much. You're with someone.

It's just like you used to tell me, isn't it? It's all you made it out to be? I'm sure it is.

Heehee. My big, strong first class SOLDIER. Tell me everything, all right? Don't leave anything out; I love hearing your stories. Makes me feel like I'm seeing the world with you, almost, even if I'm still stuck here. See, my part of the planet looks pretty much the same every day.

Oh. That sounds kind of cheesy on paper, but it didn't when I was thinking about it. It's the thought that counts!

I'm sorry about your bunkmate, by the way. Do you have anything you can plug his nose with? Putting his hand in a glass of water while he's sleeping might help too. I've never tried either method, though, so let me know what happens. Don't worry, Mom doesn't sort the mail anymore. That's become my job.

You don't have to agonize about your crudeness reaching any eyes but mine. I read them before work—I ought to get going now, in fact, to make my rounds. Still haven't fixed the roof, either. I guess I should just wait.

- Aerith


	5. Third Letter: Hearsay

**Ink-Scratching  
Third Letter: Hearsay**

Aerith,

A little bird tells me we might be breaking camp soon. There's been news of a wonky mako reactor acting up somewhere north of here, and it seems the honchos want to send a squad ahead of the rest—just a smallish group to do recon and stuff, see what's going on. It's probably not so big that we'll need to send for a gazillion specialist troops to fix whatever's gone wrong, but you can shoot me dead where I'm sitting right now if I don't get to go. I've been itching to get out there for weeks! Plus, it's in Nibe… Nibel… Nibelheim! (God, what a mouthful.) That's Cloud's town.

You remember Cloud, don't you? My friend who snores? Yeah, his name's Cloud. Fluffy-thing-in-the-sky Cloud. I think the said snoring kept me from telling you too much about him last time I wrote you—which is really weird, because when he's awake he's more bashful than a girl in love. Not a talker at all, this kid. I still have to jab him in the ribs to get him to answer some of my questions! Took forever to get him to stop calling me 'sir,' too. Geez, some people. Still, he's a good guy, and I really like him.

He hasn't been snoring too loudly in recent weeks either. I just zip the sleeping bag up over his head. (Seph wouldn't let me plug his nose or do the water thing. What a wet blanket—no pun intended.)

No way am I leaving my little buddy here by himself. I'm definitely gonna try to put in a good word for him if—when!—I land a spot in that advance party. He doesn't let on a lot, but I can tell he really misses home. Maybe I'll even drag him along with me when I get some time off—I think you'd like him, too. But you'd still like me better, wouldn't you?

…Wow. Even the feel of the air's beginning to change, you know. Suddenly there's electricity everywhere. Everyone's getting psyched up to give a million percent, although it won't be a big job, 'cause that's what they taught us and that's what we'll do.

Man, I love this. I live for this kind of stuff.

Let me tell you something, though. I miss my girl. You doing all right? Look through that damn hole once you've read this and smile for me. I'll see it.

- Zack Fair


	6. Third Letter: A Nice Country Boy

**Ink-Scratching  
Third Letter: A Nice Country Boy**

Zacky,

It's really nice of you to take your friend under your wing like that. He sounds like a very nice boy, and it's good that the two of you are there to look out for each other. You'll be more than loud enough for two people. I just hope you don't go corrupting him or anything like that. And don't give me that blank look! (Oh, and please do bring him with you when you next visit—especially since you weren't able to try the water thing. Maybe we can spring it on him in the middle of the night or something. You never know.)

One of my neighbors has a map of Gaia. It's pretty old and not very detailed—just a rough sketch on a big parchment sheet, really—but I asked to borrow it out of curiosity and I'm going over it as I write. I'm tracing the mountain ranges too, so I can sort of guess at where you are right now. It appears people get up to Nibelheim from the south via a long stretch of highway, so if you do make that advance party you'll be on the road for a while. Don't get carsick! Make sure to wrap up warm, too. I know how much you hate the cold.

You're a dot on my map, more than a hundred miles from Midgar if I'm reading this scale right. Isn't that weird? Here I was thinking you were still so close by.

Flower girl business is as usual. Wish I had something interesting to tell you. The only thing kind of worth mentioning is that it's been raining pretty hard. This downpour caught me halfway to Wall Market without an umbrella this morning and didn't let up until late in the afternoon. I wasn't able to circle the city like I usually do, because the gutters were overflowing and water was getting everywhere. People say there's a storm coming. Income's only a few gil today.

Then again, income's only a few gil almost every day. It makes me kind of sad that I can't bring in more, even if my mother never complains.

I'm in church now, just to finish this and make sure the flowerbed isn't flooded. I do all my writing here; Mom still gets kind of antsy about me seeing you and doesn't take well to being reminded of it a lot. No, it's not your fault. She's always wishing I'll just find a nice country boy and marry and settle down somewhere far from here, where getting by isn't as hard… but I don't think I could manage that. I'd rather stay in Midgar than leave her here.

Besides, I'm happy with the way things are. You're not a nice country boy, Zack, but I wish I could see you.

- Aerith


	7. Fourth Letter: Corner Store Stationery

**Ink-Scratching  
****Fourth Letter: Corner Store Stationery**

Hey, beautiful!

Hot damn, I am so high right now. I'm on top of the world. Guess where I am!

Well, if you look at the sender's address on the envelope you'll know, anyway, and then you can probably figure out the rest. But just for the sake of telling you right out and reacquainting myself with that pleasant fact…

I'm in Nibelheim (Ha! I knew I spelled it right on the first try!) with Cloud! Oh, and Seph too, I guess. Even if it took us the better part of four days to get here. We would have arrived sooner—it doesn't even take two, normally, from where we were—but our truck ran out of gas in the middle of the night, a couple of miles from the next way station. I dunno whose bright idea it was to not refill the tank before we took off, but anyway. That's what happened.

So stupid Sephy made us walk to the way station, Cloud and me, to beg for some extra fuel. Took us a couple of hours, and we were half-frozen by the time we got there. Couldn't even stay the night, since that'd just prolong the delay. We got back to the damn truck looking like popsicles. And once we got going, we had to clear ice out of the road three or four times. Damn, that was a pain—all of us just hacking and hacking at these stupid black ice sheets with our swords, trying to get them to give so we could move them off to the side and pass through.

At least we're here now. Who rocks?! I rock!

Cloud's been really shy. Even more so than usual, and he doesn't seem to want to let people know he's come back. I wonder why. I hope he visits his mom, at least, because it'd be a real shame if he passed through here and didn't even say hello.

It's great that we have this first day off to just sort of relax and look around. I've walked all over the place already—had some lunch at the inn, then bought some stationery and a ballpoint at the corner store, and took 'em up to the balcony with all the letters you sent. I've spent hours just reading and writing.

I can see everything from here. This seems like your type of place, in a way that Midgar just isn't. Nibelheim's a pretty little town—really quiet, almost sleepy. No one seems to be in a hurry to do anything, 'cept us.

Would it give your mom a heart attack if I took you here for a visit someday? Whaddaya say? I know I wouldn't mind coming back here again.

Yeah, that'd be really great.

Work officially starts tomorrow. The mako reactor we're supposed to be taking a look at is on Mt. Nibel, right outside the town. Seph did some asking around earlier today, and it seems some really odd stuff's been going on. He's already gotten someone to guide us up there. I suppose we'll find out the specifics when we arrive.

Seph might have been exaggerating when he said things were going to get a little busier than we thought they would. I don't want you worrying, but I might not be able to write for a while. That's why I'm trying to make this a good, long letter.

Aerith, I've been thinking of you. Sometimes I end up forgetting you're not just on the other side of the city anymore. The distance gets pretty disorienting for me too.

Thanks for sticking with me. Sorry if it's been at all hard—I'll make it up to you! I mean it. Not kidding around this time, promise. I'll get back in touch as soon as the chance comes up. And when this is over I'm sure they'll give me leave to swing by and fix that stupid hole in the church roof once and for all. Think you can hold on just a little bit longer?

Can't wait to see your pretty face again. Keep safe. Don't go out in the rain or you'll catch a cold.

- Zack Fair


	8. Fourth Letter: Entr'acte

**Ink-Scratching  
****Fourth Letter: Entr'acte**

Zack,

I know, I know. You did tell me to wait until you got back in touch. I've been doing that! I've managed to do it for a long time, mind you. And while I admit it was weird for the first couple of months or so, teaching myself not to wake up at six every other Sunday so I could go meet the mailman and get word from you, now I'm not having a hard time at all. You should be proud of me.

I don't know what happened this time, but I woke up at six this morning. I went downstairs really quietly and everything, because Mom was still sleeping, poked through the envelopes without really concentrating and looked for your name, like I used to. (Of course I didn't find it, but I looked for it.) Then I went back upstairs and blew the dust off my letter case and what do you know. I'm writing to you again.

How was that Nibelheim mission you were so excited about? Does your friend still snore—and was his name really Cloud? Fluffy-thing-in-the-sky Cloud? You didn't leave him alone, did you? You're still sticking together, wherever you are? Is everything okay?

I have all these questions. You're not exactly being fair to me, you know. I thought we agreed you were going to tell me everything, because I was stuck here and you were the one out there seeing all the things I couldn't.

It's been… almost a year, Zack. (Would you still mind if I called you "Zacky?") I'm still here. I still sell flowers and sort the mail every morning, and wear a pink bow in my hair. I think I might be getting kind of sick, though—there's something about the weather that makes me think I miss you a little bit. Now and again I actually think I see you in the street, or hear somebody call out in your voice. Then I have to stop and keep looking until I realize it's just some guy I don't know, not you at all.

And look at this. You're making me do all the nagging-girlfriend things I promised you I'd never, ever do. We were always joking about those—that the world was going to end before you heard anything remotely like "you never call me anymore" come out of my mouth, before I started going on and on for hours about how some song that came over the radio made me cry because it reminded me of you, and how suddenly everything reminded me of you, and "oh, baby, come back, you've been so far away for so long…"

It's kind of a relief that we only ever listened to those old jazz tapes you brought from home, the ones you left here before you took off to the mountains of somewhere. I still have them, and I'm turning up the radio now but nothing that comes on makes me want to cry. Aren't you glad?

I'm doing all right. I hope you are, too. The last letter you wrote me says you were on top of the world. Do you ever get lonely and wish you could come down?

It gets kind of lonely down here, sometimes.

Anyway, take care. I'm going to seal this up now and try to figure out how to send it to you—whether or not I am going to send it to you, rather. For one thing, all the sentiment and reminiscences are probably going to give you premature gray hairs.

For another thing, I don't even know where you are.

- Aerith Gainsborough


	9. Fifth Letter: Unsent

**Ink-Scratching  
****Fifth Letter: Unsent**

Aerith. Aerith, love, I don't have much time. What do I tell you? Maybe you've already heard everything.

Nibelheim bombed. Nibelheim bombed so bad that there isn't a Nibelheim anymore. And Sephiroth's gone, but he handed me my ass on a plate first, haha.

Cloud and I are in hospital somewhere. We've been here for what feels like months, they say it's all medical but if that's the case then I'm President Shinra… We only get a couple of minutes of fresh air a day and there's no way they're letting us leave, not anytime soon. I can't even tell what day it is or how long it's actually been, or even what the hell it is they're testing us for.

It's just pure luck that I'm writing this right now. The last guy left some paper and his pen on the desk by the operating table, then took off. I don't know how I'm going to be able to send it, I don't know if I'll ever get to send it. There's no one I can ask. Nobody I can really trust but Cloud, and he's not responding well at all to whatever it is they're doing to us, poor kid.

I feel really sick, and I'm terrified, but you know what else? I'll get better. I'll get better, and then we'll get the hell out of here, Cloud and I. I'm gonna come back to you and when I do I'll never leave you again, because I'm done. Getting out'll take a while, that's all…

I know I keep saying that. I know I shouldn't make you wait. Who the hell am I to make you wait? You probably think I've forgotten you. I haven't. I'm still here. How could I forget my girl back home?

I did say Midgar wasn't home before, but anywhere you are can be home to me. I mean it. Not kidding around. I miss you so much. I've been so far away for so long.

I'm so sorry about all of this. So, so sorry. But Aerith, don't let me go, okay? Can you hold on until I get there? Just until I get there. Then you won't have to worry anymore.

* * *

**A/N: **The way things turned so abruptly kind of kills my heart. x.x But it all had to end sometime, I guess. And it _was_ fun while it lasted, wahaha. 


End file.
